Blood. There was blood slowly pooling under the still body, drenching the fur and paws of the grey animal. Soft whines escaped its mouth, as the wolf suffered in pain. Divya fought the urge to avert her eyes or close her ears. The sound of the poor pup's pain was overwhelming her.  Razor pulled the pup closer to him, his hands shaking slightly as he checked the pup's pulse. The boy let out a shaky breath, before hugging the wolf a little tighter and screwing his eyes shut. 

Family...This truly is a family...

His family...

Divya slowly approached him, kneeling down and looking at the animal with sorrowful eyes.

"I'm sorry, we weren't fast enough. Do you know how to heal this little guy?" She asked him. 

He fervently nodded. "I take lupical further in. Follow me, maybe you see, Guardian of this land" he said in a jumbled rush. 

Before Amber could stop him, he picked up the injured animal before sprinting deeper into the forest. 

"-But the questions..." she trailed off, pouting slightly.

"Let's go, we have to catch up to him" said a suddenly very determined Divya. Lumine nodded, and the two began to sprint behind him, leaving a very confused Outrider behind who yelled at them to wait up.

"Wolfhook seeds? I have them here" Lumine produced the seeds in front of everyone. As quick as lightning, Razor snatched them from the blonde woman and began to crush them above the wound. 

"Thankfully, it doesn't seem to be a deep wound, however this does mean that those men reached this pup quite a while ago" Divya observed, kneeling down and facing the boy as he let the liquid drip down into the bleeding gash. 

Soft whimpers escaped the wolf, the liquid initially hurting its very sensitive skin. Against her logical cognitive skills, the brunette reached out and gently caressed the wolf between its ears. Its fur was coarse, yet somehow still brought her a strange sense of comfort. 

Razor watched in child-like wonder at the way she treated his lupical as her own. She was gentle towards the animal, her body language and voice conveying nothing but care. 

Lumine, Amber and Paimon themselves watched in awe at the sight. The wolf's whimpers were still heard, but it had started to move its head slightly. The pup bobbed its head to press its ears further into her palm. 

I don't think any wild animal would let just any person touch them.... were Amber's thoughts.

As expected of Divya!! Always kind and gentle!!  thought Lumine

Hmph...!! Paimon wants hugs now!! 

"It's him!! The one who was raised by wolves!!" A male voice screeched. 

The brunette's good mood was broken, and she turned to face the hunters in annoyance.

"Did no one tell you it was rude to point fingers? Where are your manners?" She questioned, causing the two men to gasp in outrage. Huffing and puffing like five-year-olds, they ignored her and idiotically pointed fingers at the now wary boy. 

"I can't believe you would help them plot against humans!! They throw you some scraps and you treat them like kin?! Have you forgotten what you are??" Hopkins said in outrage. 

Immature idiot

"'Some scraps' you say? Well, the wolves certainly did much better than what some humans have done. They took him in, unlike what some humans do, so I would suggest you think twice before speaking about someone you hardly know" 

Razor's red eyes sparkled once more when he gazed at the brunette in what seemed like awe. He couldn't understand some of what she said, but he knew enough to know that she was protecting him. 

Protection....Lupical....Friends....

Was she going to be his friend? 

"You!! You again!! Why are you being like this?! Are you and the Knights going to let this guy off the hook?!" Frustration was clear in their voices. 

"We.did.not.raid.the.village" The red-eyed boy said forcefully as he spoke up, whether it be out of anger or out of desperation, they couldn't tell.

They didn't have to wait for any confirmation regarding his statement though. 

The wind picked up speed, whirling around the clearing in ominous volumes. The eyes of the carved wolf pulsated an icy blue as the temperature dropped down lower than anyone expected. 

Paimon shrieked, and once again hid behind the brunette who was being pushed back by the wind. Lumine and Amber reached their hands out and tried to steady her, whilst Razor stood up abruptly, staring at the stone wolf in an unknown emotion. 

Divya's feed skidded against the worn down tiles, before finally being pushed out of the boundaries of the clearing. The others had no time to reach out and grab her before the domain enclosed itself in a wall of mist and gales, completely sealed. 

A lone wolf howl announced the presence of the Wolf of the North. The icy blue stones glowed brightly, and before them stood the icy remnants of what, by all means, would be a god. A large wolf, prowled towards the group, crystals of ice showering every step. His eyes were frozen in a cold blue, cryo and anemo energy swirling around his fur. 

"You seek to protect these outsiders Razor?" A thundering voice boomed in the clearing. The large spirit circled at a measured pace; the pace of a hunter, the pace of a predator, the pace of one who knew exactly how to deal with impudent insects like the hunters.

"You must clear their name with your sword. You must bare your claws of steel" Icicles splattered all over the platform, barely missing the brunette by a millimeter. 

Amber, Lumine and Razor huddled together, their weapons out as they began to follow Boreas with their eyes. 

Divya stared wide-eyed at the aura the North Wolf was exuding. She huddled closer to the trees, the freezing temperature getting even colder as his white-less eyes seemed to bare themselves right into her, piercing through the windy barrier. She flinched, averting her gaze and hiding behind the trees.

A loud roar of rage crashed through the thicket. Amber yelped and dove to the side just as the mighty spirit of the forest came crashing down on ice. 

The eighteen-year-old stumbled at the shaking earth, while the ones who knew how to fight regrouped themselves. 

H-He's fast!! Too fast!! I can't keep up with his movements!! 

Brown eyes frantically scanned the flurry of ice and wind, of rocks and leaves, and of dry twigs and sand. The melting ice condensed, settling into a fast-paced fog that clouded her vision. Thundering roars, occasional grunts and the shaking of the earth were the only things that filled her senses as she tried her best to spot her friends. 

Fire. Lightning. Wind. Ice. 

Sand. Storm. Sounds. 

There was so much going on. Too much going on. If this kept up, the brunette knew her body would shut down simply at the sheer chill in the air. 

A small flicker of flames alerted her of Amber's astounding counter. A spark of electricity made her sigh in relief at Razor's determined stance against Boreas. 

But where's Lumine...?

A dull gleam sparked through the mist and the fog, and she sighed. 

Her signature dull blade...

Her senses narrowed, and suddenly, the only thing she could hear was whimpering. Soft, breathy whimpering, as if the owner of that miserable voice was calling out for someone. For something. Amongst the howling wind, the crashing ice, the blazing flames was a feeble desperate voice. 

A voice that didn't belong in the blood-shed arena. 

The wolf pup!! She realized starkly. The poor pup was still in the clearing with Andrius, Lumine, Razor and Amber. 

She didn't give a damn about the hunters. Whatever happened to them was of their own doing. The injured canine however had to get out of there. And fast. Its wound might have stopped bleeding, but it still needed more treatment. The pup shouldn't be in a position where it's injury could get worse. 

Divya flinched at the loud noise that tore through her thoughts. She clenched her pendant tightly within her fist, her eyes glazing over as she tried to think of ways to get the pup out safely without getting injured herself.

Her fist turned white, as her eyes narrowed harshly at her options. 

Ah fuck it. It's either letting the pup get seriously injured again or me getting injured. 

The wolf is already injured, so I can't take option one. Option two it is then. 

Hoping that Andrius was distracted, the brunette made her way down into the clearing. The fast-moving fog condensed on her skin, causing her to wipe the crystal drops off of her skin. She squinted her eyes, trying to see the grey canine. 

She gasped at a glimmer of white bone. Teeth. Was it the wolf? 

Thankfully, it seemed to have dragged itself to the corner of the clearing. The movement took its toll on the pup. Its beautiful amber eyes were fogged over, pain eliciting sounds from its clenched jaws. 

The eighteen-year-old, having completely forgotten about the ongoing fight, pushed her body through the foggy wall, forcing her legs to move her into the zone of danger. Stumbling, she fell to her knees next to the pup. 

"I've got you....Shh...I know it still hurts....I have more wolfhook seeds...I can reduce the pain a little..." 

God knows if the pup understood her, but it seemed to blink in response, so she took it as consent for what she was doing. 

Crawling, the woman turned vet shifted to look at the gash on its belly. The blood had started to clot, but the wound was still open. The harsh wind probably hurt the sensitive skin around the injury. 

Carefully, she took out a piece of cloth (it appeared out of thin air actually-), and as gently as she could, wiped off the excess copper colored liquid. A whimper and a yelp escaped from the wolf, and she stopped. Divya patted its head, a lot more comfortable now that she knew the canine wouldn't bite her fingers off or something. 

A growl. She froze at the sound. 

She only had time to turn and see the wide looming jaws of the Wolf of the North before screwing her eyes shut. Her breathing stopped. 

.

.

.

.

"Please!! Calm!!" A boyish voice pulled her out of the bed of knives that was her fear. She opened her eyes to see Razor's claymore inbetween the jaws of the spirit, as he pleaded with his guardian to stop his attack.

"Please! Calm down!" He pleaded once again. 

Humans were never of any particular interest to Andrius. He would even go far as to say he disliked the majority of their population during some long-gone time. Razor was a pure exception. What seemed like a breath was actually years gone by since the moment the child had entered Wolvendom. 

A tattered appearance, mud smeared across his fragile body and what seemed to be a body too underweight for a human. 

Andrius would never forget the look in his eyes. Red eyes, a spark amidst an icy world. Eyes that screamed for the need to live, a desire that deserved respect and admiration. To see such eyes in his lifetime, from a human no less, was the ultimate reason for him to take in the young boy as his lupical, his family. 

Regret was not an emotion any immortal could feel so easily after living for centuries, but if the spirit could, he would have confidently established that he hadn't regretted bringing up the human child under his wing. Or paws. 

Such eyes that were electrified with desire, ambition, and emotion were rare. The spirit reckoned he wouldn't be able to see such life after Razor. 

He was wrong. Admittedly, it wasn't something he would simply speak about to anyone, but yes. He was wrong. 

The human female that was clumsily seated in front of him was the reason for his admission. A few seconds was all it took for him to change his mind. 

Brown eyes that moved animatedly, flickering from a dark brown to a mild amber, then a pitch black. Ambition, determination, fear. Emotions so strong they seemed almost misplaced within the human. 

And yet, here she was, attempting to heal a being not of her own kind, that too in a situation that would have taken her life had Razor not intercepted. She didn't have claws of steel. She didn't have talons of ice. She had nothing. No strength like the other two, no weapons like those wretched hunters.

And yet, in the brief seconds he had opened his jaws and barred his teeth at her, her body moved. She covered the injured wolf with her body, her hand outstretched as if she would rather have him bite off her arm than scare his own family. 

Andrius didn't know whether to applaud her bravery or scold her for even entertaining the thought that he would hurt his own pack. 

One thing was certain. 

She had the boon of protection from Barbatos, and the promise of companionship from one of his former allies; Dvalin. 

Andrius had finally found a human, that was not so disappointing. 

Perhaps you could truly be the best family for Razor. 

A true Lupical, a comrade in arms. 

✨END OF ACT - 1✨